29 October 2021: Analysis - What to Expect from Cuomo's Defense Team in Albany Sex Crime Case

On Cuomo Sex-Crime Charge, Expect Defense Complaints about Albany Police

National Review's Andrew McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, analyzes how Andrew M. Cuomo's defense team will approach the criminal misdemeanor charges for "forcible touching" in Albany County. The following excerpt gives a short synopsis of a longer bit of analysis for what Cuomo's defense is likely to focus upon in attempting to avoid the criminal conviction of their client:

As our Isaac Schorr reports, New York’s disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo has apparently been charged with a sex crime — forcible touching — which is a misdemeanor under state law. As yet, no criminal complaint has been filed publicly, and because of the nature of the case, it may be that the version eventually released by the court will be redacted. It is obvious, though, that the charge is based on a report to Albany police by Brittany Commisso, a state executive chamber staffer.

After initial reluctance, Ms. Commisso came forward to investigators and went public with the allegation that the then-governor groped one of her breasts, without consent, at the governor’s mansion. She was referred to only as “Executive Assistant #1” in state attorney general Letitia James’s explosive sexual-harassment report, which ultimately doomed Cuomo, forcing his resignation.

Back in early August, I wrote about the wayward press conference given on a Saturday morning by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office about Ms. Commisso’s report. To be clear, Cuomo may be as guilty as the day is long in the court of public opinion — I’m inclined to believe that he is. In the court of law, however, he is presumed innocent. Although it is prosecuting him, the state’s job also entails protecting his fair-trial rights. He may well be convicted, particularly if Ms. Commisso is a compelling witness. But if Cuomo decides to fight the case, the police commentary will give him some cards to play in arguing that he has been denied a fair proceeding....

We’ll see what happens. But if Cuomo decides to fight rather than plead guilty, expect to hear a lot — at least in the pretrial phase — about Sheriff Apple’s press conference.

We omitted a longer bit of older analysis McCarthy provided back in August 2021, but do click through for that detail if you're interested. We think the legal methods Cuomo's defense team will utilize in the sexual harassment cases will be similar to those they would use in any criminal cases that arise in connection to Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals.